by Migs

For a brief moment, WWE superstar Batista was just a regular mama (a term meaning “man” or “average joe” in Filipino) in the midst of his brethren from halfway across the globe.

For a brief moment, the champ wasn’t “The Animal”. He was just plain old David Bautista who loved local delicacy, adobo,to the hilt.

Last week, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion who currently competes on the Smackdown brand visited Manila for what turned out to be 3 activity-laiden days. He had a motorcade in Quezon City’s Cubao district, public appearances in Ali Mall, and on the popular noontime show “Eat Bulaga” and the entertainment magazine program “Showbiz Stripped”, and a press conference/meet and greet in one of the Gateway Mall cinemas and at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Batista is a product of a Greek mother and Filipino father. His Greek/Philippine flag tatoo speaks strongly of his love for his heritage, and just how much his real life persona differed from his on-screen character. Batista outside the squared circle and away from the glare of arena lights and the crosshairs placed on him by photographers is someone of depth, of pride, and, well, someone far removed from the a lunk whose only claim to fame are grunts and bumps and bruises put forth as a result of “animalistic” instincts.

“The Animal” was in the country to promote the WWE Smackdown Survivor Series tour which is slated to have shows in Manila over 2 days- on October 21st and 22nd, 2006 (both shows, I believe, have sold out). Apart from Batista, other Smackdown stars such as the current United States Champion Mr. Kennedy, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, and the current World Heavyweight Champion, King Booker (along with loudmouth spouse Queen Sharmell), will also grace the occassion.

_______________________________________________________________________

Filipinos have a tendency to be very paradoxical when it comes to the idea of foreigners and locals being placed atop the platform of celebrity. On one hand, Juan Dela Cruz can have a tendency to be blind to the truth about certain scenarios specifically because of ethnicity. Does the public eye have its attention focused on a murder case? Grant the accused some form of privilege because he’s Pinoy! Kawawa naman siya kasi may pamilya siyang iiwan. We can bend the rules a bit because of some human compassion, right?

Wrong.

In the same breath, Pinoys can tend to kick their own kind to the curb in favor of foreign celebrities that come their way, foreign celebrities who are judged to be more beautiful, or more skilled in their craft, sometimes, merely as a direct result of their race.

Remember Thalia? The star of two hugely popular Mexican soap operas which aired in the Philippines in 1990s? Maria Mercedes and MariMar (aww!)? Yes, the girl could sing, and was attractive, but certainly, the girl was not the second coming of Christ. The only thing that was left for this country’s entertainers, politicians, and those in the Armed Forces to do at the time was to offer to kiss her feet and crown her queen of a newly-formed Philippine monarchy. The same train of thought applies to F4, the four cutesy lads who took the nation by storm in 2003 because of the telenovela, “Meteor Garden”. They could’ve asked the government to start drawing potable water from the Pasig river and close down all the SM Malls, and, shudder, our officials MIGHT have just given in, or at least, dedicated a synapse or two to the idea.

Yes, celebrities will be celebrities, but at the end of the day, they’re human too, hence, reason should prevail over everyone’s perspectives.

For me, the Batista visit bordered on once again becoming an overblown local spectacle. The reason why it didn’t become such, in a way, was Batista himself. He didn’t seem to ride the wave of all the adjulation in such a way that his visit would not be seen from a “messianic” perspective. Rather, he came into the Philippines acting like a typical balikbayan who had been away from home for way too long. It actually seemed like he was in as much awe at the mere fact that he was in a land he wherein he could kick back and relax as the we who received his already “massive” celebrity (not ego, celebrity). It was beautiful to have seen a man so reknowned, so teeming with fame, manifest himself in a way that was so humble and unlike many a bejeweled person. Because of Batista’s low key approach to all this, the media covered the event, but did not go into a frenzy, the masses did not lose their heads over being the midst of a highly notable being, and we can, for real, sleep on the fact that we’ve finally gone through an entertainment personality’s visit without having to bend over backwards too much to the point that our pride ends up sucked dry due to our own lack of vision.

A round of applause is in order first, to Dave Batista for his mature demeanor throughout the tryst, and second, to those who stood on the sides in utter astonishment, just enough astonishment to get us cheering and clamoring for more fun, and not to the point of us getting wasted.

My friend Anj who was at the press meeting at the Gateway Mall shared with me recently that the program’s emcee told the members of the media not to ask any touchy questions because the Araneta Center management, “would not be held accountable for what Batista might do to a ‘renegade’ journalist”.

As seemingly exaggerated as that statement was, it did aptly articulate the refreshing principle behind the entire shindig- Batista didn’t have to whip out a spinebuster or two because no one was going to dare “ask for it”.

End of story. =)